Recipe - Cream of Mushroom Soup
Here's a recipe to make your momma feel good for Mother's Day. I'm betting that she probably made you some Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup at some point in your childhood when you weren't feeling well or the weather was bleak, didn't she? Well repay her the favor by making her some of the real deal from scratch!
Just so you know, a lot of what I make is really just a product of the same thought going on in your mind on a generally daily basis: what is there in the fridge? Unless I have a Test Kitchen ingredient on hand to come up with something for, I throw things together based on what I find. In the case of this recipe, mushrooms had been on sale one day so I hoarded them and I had whole milk left over from the oatmeal fried chicken I had made. Since I'm milk intolerant (just can't drink straight up uncooked milk but everything else with milk is fine), I had to cook it somehow. Oh yes, and there were also bunches of green onions starting to wither. Cold day...abundance of mushrooms, milk, and green onions...CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP TIME! I'm actually looking really forward to making this again too. Sop it up with some crusty bread, and you're golden.
Step 1: Ingredients (yields 2-3 servings)
- sunflower oil
- 2 Tbsps unsalted butter
- 4 bunches green onions, thinly sliced (separated in whites & greens)
- 12 oz. mushrooms, sliced with stems
- 3 Tbsps all-purpose flour
- 2 cups vegetable broth, divided
- 1/2 cup whole milk, divided
- 1/4 tsp onion salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- pinch of nutmeg
- black pepper, to taste
You are going to have to clean your mushrooms well before using them. Just so you don't lose natural nutrients on its outer skin, wipe them clean with a wet towel. Then they'll be cute as a button (har har). Slice these up real nicely and set aside. Slice up your green onions as well but make sure to separate the whites from the dark greens (dark greens will be for garnishing). In a large pot, add oil and butter on high heat. Yes, both. When the butter is nearly all melted, add green onions.
Step 3: Cooking the mushrooms
Turn the heat down to about medium high and then add in the mushrooms. Let them soak up the oils from the green onions a little bit before adding in flour. Make sure to sprinkle that all around and stir until no more lumps are present. ONCE the lumps are gone, add just 1 cup of your broth and turn down heat to medium low. Simmer until it thickens and looks similar to the picture below.
Step 4: Thickening the soup
When the soup has begun to thicken a bit, add in 1/4 cup of milk. Then add your bay leaves, thyme, nutmeg, and pepper. Stir it up really well and let thicken for a few minutes before reducing heat to low and adding remaining broth (1 cup) and milk (1/4 cup).
Step 5: Finishing
Let simmer on low for 15-20 minutes until desired thickness is achieved. Enjoy in shallow bowls with green onion on top and some bread.
Photography by Minerva Thai.
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